John McClutchy Jr., President of JHM Group, speaks during a press conference at the Stamford train station during which the Connecticut Department of Transportation announced the winning bidder for the station's redevelopment. less

John McClutchy Jr., President of JHM Group, speaks during a press conference at the Stamford train station during which the Connecticut Department of Transportation announced the winning bidder for the ... more

An artist's rendering of the proposed addition to the Stamford train station.

An artist's rendering of the proposed addition to the Stamford train station.

Photo: Contributed Photo

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Artist rendering of a proposal to redevelop the area around the Stamford train station that would replace the existing 1985 parking garage with 600,000 square feet of commercial office space, 60,000 square-feet of street-level retail space, a hotel with approximately 150 rooms and about 150 residential units. less

Artist rendering of a proposal to redevelop the area around the Stamford train station that would replace the existing 1985 parking garage with 600,000 square feet of commercial office space, 60,000 square-feet ... more

Photo: Contributed Photo

Image 9 of 9

Stamford rail station project stuck on negotiations with state

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STAMFORD -- The project has been described as the city's most vital upcoming redevelopment, an estimated $500 million undertaking that will have a resounding impact on thousands of train commuters and boost the city's economy with new business.

But more than a year and a half after announcing the team of private developers that will replace the downtown train station's aging parking garage, and build a mixed-use development in the surrounding area, the state Department of Transportation still has not released any new public details on the plan or the studies behind it, nor has it indicated when the project will begin.

Instead, the state DOT has spent the last several months locked in slow-moving negotiations with city officials about aspects of the plan, and over how much say Stamford gets on how the property is used.

The DOT has consistently maintained that land owned by the state is not subject to local zoning approval; the Martin administration, meanwhile, argues that the city needs to have input on a project of such local importance and impact. In November, the city Zoning Board asserted its own authority on the matter, passing a zoning regulation requiring the train station project to receive certain city approvals.

The matter is set to play out at the state level soon, when the state legislature tackles a bill introduced last month that would critics say would strip towns and cities of their local planning and zoning decision-making authority in areas surrounding rail and bus stations. It was introduced by the governor.

By the DOT's account, the need to broker an agreement with the city has delayed the state's effort to finalize its contract with the station's developers, a group led by John McClutchy of JHM Group. That's because once an agreement is signed, a clock begins to tick on McClutchy's three-year construction deadline to build the garage.

"We are trying to make sure we resolve issues with the city, so that when we start we can keep on going," Anna Barry, the DOT's deputy commissioner, said recently. The decision to postpone the contract was mutual between the state and McClutchy, she said.

The contract also would establish the timeline in which McClutchy would be required to complete the station's surrounding mixed-use development. The plan calls for 600,000 square feet of commercial office space, retail shops, housing and a hotel.

Given what's at stake, stakeholders in the project say they're bewildered that the DOT took more than a year after the project's announcement to begin serious discussions with city officials. As early as May 2013, prior to the developers' selection, an advisory council on the project urged members of the state agency -- including Commissioner James Redeker -- to begin sharing its plans with Stamford.

"What we said over and over to Redeker was, `You have got to work with the city, otherwise this is going to tie you up,'" said Joseph McGee, a council member who is vice president of public policy and programs for the Stamford-based Business Council of Fairfield County.

McGee had argued that the train station amounted to a critical economic development asset for Stamford. "We need to be as much of a party to this conversation as the DOT," he recalled telling DOT officials. "We can't be an afterthought."

But while he said DOT officials "talked a good game" during early meetings, "I don't think anybody in the city felt like DOT was their partner."

Transit-oriented developments, which promote the idea of walkable communities around train stations, have sprung up across the country but are relatively new to Connecticut. Barry, of the DOT, conceded that in terms of such developments in the state, Stamford "might be the model or the beginning of the model." But she said the agency has an established practice of working with municipalities on local projects through the sharing of its design plans.

Barry described the Stamford train station project as still being in the conceptual phase. "The city is going to have to determine a role that is adequate," she said. "We're pretty optimistic we can get there."

Michael Pollard, Mayor David Martin's chief of staff, has been involved in the negotiations. He said the city has asked to review the state's data on traffic and ridership, which suggests large numbers of reverse commuters coming into Stamford.

Among the city's main concerns, he said, are that the plan take into account the growth of the city over the next 30 years, the experience for commuters, and the effect on traffic around the station.

He said the recent pace of negotiations had been affected by weather and scheduling difficulties, but that the relationship between the city and state had greatly improved. "It's been a marked change from where we were just a year ago," he said.